Bhuvi bowled incredibly well. I think Pakistan ought to have got over 350 but Imad just got bogged down by some clever Indian bowling that befuddled him (full and wide ball, and short pitch balls), and he didn't get out.

Anyone's game, but importantly Pakistan is not out of it at lunch, they would like more and anything under 350 is in India's range, but this could be an excellent final, yet.

Law 31.6 - benefit of the doubt for an dismissal appeal goes to the batsmanA third umpire call for a run out or stumping is a referral, not a review.

Kohli's weakness outside the off stump came back to haunt him. Dropped off the previous ball (to one pitched outside off), again falls to the very next delivery pitched outside off. If he doesn't fix this problem soon, he'll struggle, certainly in English conditions.

Bowlers have not exploited this Kohli weakness enough. They often bowl at his pads, which is the worst thing you can do - he will punish you.

In general, BCCI batsmen are all predictable and should have been found out by now. Yuvi, Dhoni....

BCCI could have done with another solid batsman. I think they're missing KL Rahul.

Coming to the bowling.

Bhuvi was very good. Bumrah's no-balls were frustrating. Was it the occasion?Ashwin & Jadeja were terrible - couldn't get any turn at all, while 18-year old Shadab managed to turn the ball and even picked up Yuvi and Jadhav.

All in all, a very forgettable outing for BCCI.

And a very memorable one for me. :-)

The moment Pak got 338, I knew we had enough. Against this attack, no way was BCCI going to get easy runs.

If they'd dropped a bowler and picked a batsman instead, it would have been Rahane. :-)THAT's how pathetic the BCCI squad was.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has a bunch of young players. Not just talented, but also fearless in how they approach the game. Today was a HUGE game. Not just Champions Trophy final, but that too against India.

They didn't show the slightest sign of nerves. I loved the way Fakhar and even Azhar went after the bowling. Risky shots, yes, but they all came off today.

Many are saying the toss decision was a blunder and key influencing factor but I disagree.

If BCCI had batted first, Aamir & co would have done just the same. The poor batting performance yesterday did NOT come from "pressure of a chase". Certainly not Rohit & Kohli. Both have weaknesses that were very well exploited. Dhawan also got out to an excellent delivery. Yuvi got out DEFENDING to a Shadab delivery.

If you're throwing your wicket away because of getting bogged down in a chase, I can understand. This wasn't like that.

We need to give credit to Pakistan's bowlers. It was a fantastic performance that just blew BCCI away. BCCI batsmen were just not upto the mark.

Hi guys, read ure comments on yesterday. As an Indian fan (but cricket fan in the first place) I must say that Pakistan played ex-actly as u should in the final of a global tournament. It started with the 1st innings, Fakhar and Ali, the former almost out, but after that he annihiliated Bumrah, whose accuracy and tightness is so vital in their bowling lineup. The opening stand of 128 gave the other batsmen room to express themselves, esp. Hafeez, who did struggle of late. India lost the plot here and I must question Kohli's captaincy. Jadhav comes in no sooner than in the 39th over after Ash had got hammered by 70 runs in his 10, Jaddhu wasn*t doing well either. Jadav hits after 9 balls and dismisses well-set Babar Azam. Why did he not bring him earlier? Ash is a great bowler, a champion player, but u have to assess the conditions correctly. This was a bouncy pitch, and Umesh and Shami were probably howling in the dressing room at every ball the Indian spinners got dispatched. Umesh had taken 3 wickets in the group game against these very players.In the chase, with runs on the board, the Pakistan bowlers knew they could be relatively relaxed about their game. I do not actually think that Rohit and Kohli made mistakes here. It was just awesome bowling. Remember Amir is the guy that made even great Michael Holding weep when he was caught cheating a couple of years ago. India were bogged down already in the first innings, and the only, really the two players that did come to the party with a special attitude were Bhuvi (with the ball) and Hardik (w bat and ball). That's why he was livid when run out. Not that he alone could have rescued India. But when he was run out, Pandiya had started building something like pressure on the opposition for the first time, bringing the RRR to under 8.

Interesting to see this new Pakistan team. I wonder what started it all. Looking for clues, two things spring to mind. One is the retirement of Misbah from ODI, and hence the captaincy of Sarfraz. But the second thing is also interesting, and maybe the Pakistani fans could share their views on this. For me it was the famous Wahab Riaz spell against Shane Watson at the WC. Though in a losing cause, the ferocity, body language and courage of Wahab may then actually have shown many young Pakistani bowlers at the U-19, U21- level how a bowler should go about it on the big stage.I see a lot of that fervor in Hasan Ali. But to be honest, isn't that what made Pakistani bowling world famous in the first place? Speed and ferocity, Wasim, Imram, Shoab, enuff said. All in all, well done Pakistan, looking forward to th enew test line-up; hugely disappointed by India.

Forgive if I'm mistaken, but didn't Kohli give a leading edge spooning up to point trying to turn it leg side to a ball angling accross him?

I understand jaffas that get batsmen out that are unplayable, but Amir targetted Kohli on a 4th stump line. Kohli had edged the ball before accross him and was playing for non existant in swing the next.

Amir lured him into making a mistake - as he will many more fine batsmen.

Law 31.6 - benefit of the doubt for an dismissal appeal goes to the batsmanA third umpire call for a run out or stumping is a referral, not a review.

raja wrote:Many are saying the toss decision was a blunder and key influencing factor but I disagree.

If BCCI had batted first, Aamir & co would have done just the same. The poor batting performance yesterday did NOT come from "pressure of a chase". Certainly not Rohit & Kohli. Both have weaknesses that were very well exploited. Dhawan also got out to an excellent delivery. Yuvi got out DEFENDING to a Shadab delivery.

If you're throwing your wicket away because of getting bogged down in a chase, I can understand. This wasn't like that.

We need to give credit to Pakistan's bowlers. It was a fantastic performance that just blew BCCI away. BCCI batsmen were just not upto the mark.

raja wrote:Best moment of the match for me was the Pandya run-out, thanks to Jadeja. :-)That probably summed up BCCI's day. :-)

Another fantastic moment was Kohli getting dismissed.I was not happy when Azhar put down the chance off the previous delivery.But Kohli was kind enough to go for another one outside off.

The first fun moment of the match was when Bumrah got Fakhar off a no-ball. I was thinking "Oh no! We lose an early wicket, the procession will start now".Then when they showed the no-ball, I was SO relieved.

I would say BCCI lost the match rather than PCB won it. Luck is on PCB side. All the major action is linked more to luck rather than skill. I doubt if these young PCB players make their name against other teams/tours too, Amir being an exception. Some how playing against BCCI would bring best out of PCB players but also it brought out worst in BCCI players that otherwise are genuinely skilled players.

It sure do a lot of good to PCB as organization and a boost to its ailing bench strength from first class cricket. It's indeed a dream come true, who waited for it after decades of drought. Best wishes & congratulations.

Is it kumble's decision to play Ashwin instead of another seamer that made the difference in the game? Did jadeja played selfishly or an innocent mistake ? Is Kohli really that bad player who is suspect against outside offstump line or is it just one off fluke good ball that nobody can play? Is rohit sharma good against only minnows? Did dhoni influenced Kohli to take some bad decisions? Is it end of dhoni era who would be replaced with karthik etc who are waiting for a long time ? Questions questions only time has all the answers.

Going South wrote:I would say BCCI lost the match rather than PCB won it. Luck is on PCB side. All the major action is linked more to luck rather than skill. I doubt if these young PCB players make their name against other teams/tours too, Amir being an exception. Some how playing against BCCI would bring best out of PCB players but also it brought out worst in BCCI players that otherwise are genuinely skilled players.

It sure do a lot of good to PCB as organization and a boost to its ailing bench strength from first class cricket. It's indeed a dream come true, who waited for it after decades of drought. Best wishes & congratulations.

Is it kumble's decision to play Ashwin instead of another seamer that made the difference in the game? Did jadeja played selfishly or an innocent mistake ? Is Kohli really that bad player who is suspect against outside offstump line or is it just one off fluke good ball that nobody can play? Is rohit sharma good against only minnows? Did dhoni influenced Kohli to take some bad decisions? Is it end of dhoni era who would be replaced with karthik etc who are waiting for a long time ? Questions questions only time has all the answers.

If a bowler constantly bowl no-balls, it's the bowler's problem. Can't say it's opposition's good luck.If a batsman doesn't run and, in the process, runs out the last-hope-batsman, it's his fault. Not the opposition's good luck.If a team has hyped up batsmen who are totally exposed while facing quality bowling, it's the team's failing. Not the opposition's good luck.

BCCI were COMPREHENSIVELY outplayed on Sunday.

Yes, maybe these Pakistani players struggle against other sides. But that only shows BCCI in poor light.

I don't know if it was Kumble's decision to play Ashwin. How do we know it was not Kohli's?Jadeja had a momentary lapse of judgment, I think. I wouldn't call him selfish.Yes, Kohli is suspect to the ball angling away outside the off-stump. He almost seems to be compulsively obsessed with playing at it.Yes, Rohit is a minnow-basher.No, I wouldn't blame Dhoni for influencing Kohli. If there's a suitable replacement for Dhoni, maybe time to try him out. I don't rate Karthik. Dhoni's keeping is far superior to Karthik's. And Dhoni's batting might not be as fluent as it once was but he's still better than Karthik. Or Parthiv.

Well. They are not bad bowlers & bad batsmen. They did play good in previous matches but stress got to them to make silly mistakes. All runouts involve an element of luck. Of all the balls bowled it's bad luck that a wicket fall on a no ball, not before or not after.

You talk as if Kohli is a school kid who does not know how to play cricket ? Based on what ? One match ? Give me a break. Kohli did play good on many occasions and did defend or score on outside off balls. He is no kid. Have some respect. I think it's one of those bad luck moment to him that he got out to such a ball. It DOES NOT mean Kohli is a bad batsmen with a flaw. Get over it. Don't over do it and act like a hater.

Agree on rohit being a minnow basher. The more I see him more he fails when needed most but play huge score on easy winnable games.

Kumble is a spin bowler. He would twist too many hands to make place for 2 spinners in team thus resulting in excess baggage. I feel that Kohli is under pressure from kumble, dhoni, team management, Anushka, fan expectations thus effecting his concentration. The more I think on it the more I respect sachin who delivered in even more pressure cooker situations where he got substandard dumb players around him in team with no support.

Going South wrote:I would say BCCI lost the match rather than PCB won it. Luck is on PCB side. All the major action is linked more to luck rather than skill. I doubt if these young PCB players make their name against other teams/tours too, Amir being an exception. Some how playing against BCCI would bring best out of PCB players but also it brought out worst in BCCI players that otherwise are genuinely skilled players.

It sure do a lot of good to PCB as organization and a boost to its ailing bench strength from first class cricket. It's indeed a dream come true, who waited for it after decades of drought. Best wishes & congratulations.

Is it kumble's decision to play Ashwin instead of another seamer that made the difference in the game? Did jadeja played selfishly or an innocent mistake ? Is Kohli really that bad player who is suspect against outside offstump line or is it just one off fluke good ball that nobody can play? Is rohit sharma good against only minnows? Did dhoni influenced Kohli to take some bad decisions? Is it end of dhoni era who would be replaced with karthik etc who are waiting for a long time ? Questions questions only time has all the answers.

If a bowler constantly bowl no-balls, it's the bowler's problem. Can't say it's opposition's good luck.If a batsman doesn't run and, in the process, runs out the last-hope-batsman, it's his fault. Not the opposition's good luck.If a team has hyped up batsmen who are totally exposed while facing quality bowling, it's the team's failing. Not the opposition's good luck.

BCCI were COMPREHENSIVELY outplayed on Sunday.

Yes, maybe these Pakistani players struggle against other sides. But that only shows BCCI in poor light.

I don't know if it was Kumble's decision to play Ashwin. How do we know it was not Kohli's?Jadeja had a momentary lapse of judgment, I think. I wouldn't call him selfish.Yes, Kohli is suspect to the ball angling away outside the off-stump. He almost seems to be compulsively obsessed with playing at it.Yes, Rohit is a minnow-basher.No, I wouldn't blame Dhoni for influencing Kohli. If there's a suitable replacement for Dhoni, maybe time to try him out. I don't rate Karthik. Dhoni's keeping is far superior to Karthik's. And Dhoni's batting might not be as fluent as it once was but he's still better than Karthik. Or Parthiv.

I'll forever say that Dhoni is overated as a bat (be it due to average padding or a total inability to keep a sr within range of asking rate/par score rate) BUT noone is as good at stumpings, run outs or gathering and getting the bails off as Dhoni in recent international cricket. His glove and hand skills are unmatched at these tasks. He's uncannily good at this. Freak.

That said, Karthik or Uthappa right now would bring a lot more batting in my opinion. Karthik is prolly more suited to lower middle order than Uthappa, with Uthappa prolly idealing eyeing a higher batting spot.

Of course they may just chuck the gloves to Rahul. Which isn't a poor devision in my opinion neither.

In fact - if NZ give India a seamer or 2, can we get a left over limited overs keeper? I'd gleefully take any of Karthik, Uthappa or Rahul.

Law 31.6 - benefit of the doubt for an dismissal appeal goes to the batsmanA third umpire call for a run out or stumping is a referral, not a review.